Forgotten Love
by staremerald
Summary: What happens when the one girl you love dies? Robin's POV and how he deals with the death of his one true love. Better than it sounds. Rated T for language


Hey guys, this is staremerald! Yay!

Disclaimer: Don't own any characters

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I looked myself over in the mirror one last time. I had tried to get my hair to lay down flat, so it would at least look like I tried to look nice for the occasion, but my unruly raven hair was refusing to stay down, so I finally gave up. My clear, blue eyes looked around my surroundings one last time, before making sure the little box was still in my pocket and finally, exiting my bedroom.

I grabbed the white rose lying on the table before opening the door, and walking out to my car. Jumping in, I turned the key in the ignition, and started up the car. I drove out, and didn't stop till I reached a huge graveyard.

I opened the door, and stepped out of the car. I smoothed down the front of my tuxedo, which had grown quite 'crinkly' during the ride over and reached back into the car to retrieve the flower, which was resting in the passenger seat. I turned back to the graveyard and taking a deep breath, pushed open the gate and stepped in.

Tombstones of all shapes and sizes were burrowed into the ground, some plain and dull, others crowded with photos and flowers. Fear clutched at my heart. My grandfather always used to tell me stories of ghosts with unfinished business and spirits still alive, but unable to cross the border back to reality. Though I was not five anymore, but twenty-one, the thought of phantoms still made the hairs on my neck stand up on end, and chills run down my spine. If people were walking by (which they were not, today the burial ground was uninhabited besides me), they would have noticed that I kept my head held high, looking straight ahead, not a trace of panic on my face. Had these people been perceptive enough though, they would have seen through my disguise and noticed that my knuckles were white from gripping the flower so tightly as if I could somehow transport my fear from myself to the rose. I was careful not to step on anyone's grave or gravestone and didn't stop walking till I reached the end of the cemetery, where one small tombstone lay. It was the same as the others, with a rectangular base and a rounded top, but it was the inscription carved into the stone that separated it from the others. Knelling down, I read:

_Here lies Starfire, friend and defender of Jump City,_

_Please don't be sad, or show your great pity,_

_Just Listen carefully for what is in store,_

_Her great star, in all its grandeur and lore,_

_Will rise from the ground, evermore. _

I knew her well.

She was my best friend, from this side of the world to the other. No one else had her charm, or extreme individuality. She was one of those girls you meet once, maybe twice in your lifetime, with a smile permanently pasted on her face and one of those personalities that could make you laugh whenever you felt like throttling someone. She was sweet, funny, loyal, strong and extremely beautiful. Her emerald eyes shone like the sun whenever she laughed and her ruby red hair was always worn out, hanging down her back, framing her flawless face. She was in fact, a princess of the planet Tammeran, Princess Koriand'r (Translated in English to 'Starfire') next in line to the throne. She left her beloved planet though, to become part of a lifesaving organization being formed here on earth-The Teen Titans. I, myself, was leader of this team, and was infatuated with her since we first met. We soon became inseparable. I was secretly in love with her-my love for her was more than just a friend's love. I smiled, memories flashing past my mind-the first day I saw her, the first time she tried mustard and fell immediately in love with it and the day she hugged me and I felt like the happiest teenager alive. Another recollection remains embedded in my mind, though the others come and go.

The day she died.

The Teen Titans were protectors of Jump City, soon vanquishing any villains threatening to overthrow the city. Except one. A mad man, named Slade. We never managed to catch him, hard as we tried. The last time I remember seeing him was the day Starfire died. It was midnight when we had just received a call informing us of Slade's whereabouts. We immediately sprang into action and in a couple of moments had arrived at his hideout. We burst in, but he was nowhere to be found. Slade's hideout was in fact an abandoned storeroom by the dock. I remember that it had been raining and the storeroom was disgusting-humid and damp. It's amazing how the mind can remember the most unimportant details, but forget important bits.

"_Look everywhere," I called to the rest of the team. "He's got to be in here somewhere." The whole team split off in different directions, except Starfire, who raced up behind me and clutched my arm, eyes wide with terror. I jumped at first, but then, turning around and noticing who was behind me, I frowned. _

"_Starfire!" I shouted. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She looked at me and I could see she was frightened. I normally would have been worried, but was intent on finding Slade at the moment. I turned away again. She pulled my arm harder. _

"_What Starfire!" I shouted, more of a statement then a question. _

"_I'm scared," she whispered, glancing around the room. _

"_Why? This isn't the first time we're fought a bad guy!" I shouted again. _

"_It's not that Robin…it's the dark," she murmured again. I rolled my eyes. _

"_Don't you sleep in a dark room every damn night?"_

"_Yes…but always with a…oh, how do you refer to them on earth…a…um…oh yes! A night-light," she said happily. _

"_So you're afraid of the dark?" I hissed. _

"_Well, not the dark…but fear of things that move and hide in the dark," she said, holding me tighter. "Please find the light switch for me and get some light in here…" she trailed off, seeing the look on my face, which was pure anger. _

"_You can use your powers! It's like your own night-light."_

"_Robin, my powers are affected by emotions. I must feel happiness to unleash my power. Right now, the only thing I feel is scared." I sighed, feeling my defenses weakening. "Besides, Slade is hidden in the shadows. Turn on the light and not only will I be grateful, but you may find him also." I looked at her again, her pale, expecting face, looking at me with huge green eyes. _

"_Oh alright," I said defeated, and began walking towards the exit of the storeroom, where moonlight was pouring in through the open entranceway. I heard Starfire running after me, not stopping till she was safely at my side. I felt along the wall, till I saw a switch. Lights flickered on and I turned to Starfire. _

"_There? Happy?" I asked. She looked past me, her eyes horror-stricken. I heard a sound, like a gunshot explode from behind me. I turned and almost as if in slow motion, I saw Slade standing triumphantly ahead of me, holding a revolver, and laughing. I was too shocked to move. The other team members rushed towards me, running down the stairs as quickly as they could. The bullet was only inches away from me-I was pushed out of the way and fell to the ground, out of the bullet's reach. I looked up, only to see that Starfire had indeed pushed me and was now in the bullet's reach. _

"_No!" I screamed, scrambling to my feet. _

_I was too late. _

_The thing that stands out the most about that memory was the look on her face when the bullet hit her. It was a mix of both terror and willingness. _

_She saved my life but stopped her own. She looked shocked as the bullet hit her and then slowly, wobbling uncertainly like a drunken man, crumpled to the ground. _

"_Starfire!" I shouted, jostling over to her. The other members of the team had appeared and were looking at me uncertainly. "Go!" I screamed, watching Slade run out. "He's escaping, goddammit!" The team nodded and ran out. I crouched over Starfire. She was alive-barely. Her eyes were open, but her breathing was uneasy and uneven. "Starfire," I whispered, tears springing into my eyes, my fingers stroking her hair. I looked down at her wound. It was growing bigger and blood poured from it, filling the floor. I ripped off my cape and tried to stop the flow. It soaked through. _

"_Robin," she said almost inaudibly, rasping and wheezing. I blinked tears from my eyes and felt them slowly running down my cheeks. _

"_Come on Starfire," I murmured. "Get up. It's not your time to die."_

"But it's your time to live…" she whispered. She reached up a hand and touched the 'R' symbol on my shirt. "I'll be right here," she said quietly, smiling gently at me, resting her hand on my shirt.

"_Starfire," I said, biting my lip, tears pouring from my eyes and onto her blood-soaked shirt. I reached up and squeezed her hand. "I love you…"_

"_I love you too," she whispered, smiling at me. I looked down at her hand, on my breast. Tears continued flowing (that was the only word to describe it) down my face. I touched her hand again. It was cold. I looked down at her face. Her eyes were shut. I immediately placed my head to her chest, listening for a heart beat. There was none…but she was still smiling. _

_She was dead._

"_Star…." I whispered and broke down, crying into my cape, which was wrapped around her stomach, soaked with her blood. This was the first time someone on the team had died. I cried like this when my grandfather died. I thought I had lost all my tears that day. I didn't. I lost them all today. I felt a hand on my shoulder. _

"_Robin?" It was Raven, the other girl member of the team. Or should I say, the only girl member of the team now. I looked up. "Is she-"_

"_Dead?" I said, my face tear-stained and red from crying. "Darn right." She raised a hand to her mouth in shock and I watched a tear slide down her cheek. I looked at the other two members of the team, two boys. They were holding Slade in their grasp, who was wriggling to get free. I stood and walked slowly up to Slade, tears still sliding down my cheeks. I picked up the revolver which Slade had dropped when he ran. I used it to hold his head up. _

"_You just killed the only girl I ever loved," I whispered to him. "Fuck you, bastard." And I pulled the trigger. And that was the end of Slade. _

The titans broke up after that. I felt a tear roll down my cheek at the memory and then a felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Robin?" I looked up to see a tall woman, not as tall as me, but just about. Her purple hair flowed down her shoulders and purple eyes glittered with concern. She wore a black dress and black high-heels. She seemed familiar.

"Raven?" I said, hardly daring to believe it. Raven never wore dresses. Ever.

"Hello Robin," came two voices in unison. It was two men, standing behind Raven. One had skin the color of grass, the other had blue machinery visible on his dark face.

"Hey BB, Cyborg," I said quietly. I stood. I was taller than all of them. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"You've come here once a day since she died," Raven said. "We just guessed you'd be here."

"What are you doing here?" I asked, ignoring Raven's sarcastic comment.

"Same as you," Cyborg replied, walking up to Starfire's grave. He pulled-what looked oddly like a mustard bottle-out of his pocket and placed it on her grave. "In case you get hungry-or thirsty," he said sadly. He stood back. Beast Boy walked up.

"I got a new joke, Starfire," he said. "What's a ghost's favorite ice cream flavor?" He paused before adding: "Boo-berry." I winced. Beast Boy's jokes were still as bad as ever. He stood back before laughing to himself. Raven walked up and dropped a necklace over the gravestone. It was in the shape of half of a heart and said 'Friends'. I looked at her neck. She wore a necklace similar to that one, but this one said 'Best'. She stood back. I walked up and faced her gravestone, ignoring the other ex-titans.

"Come on, Rae, let's go," BB said, dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. Cyborg nodded sadly.

"I'll be right there," Raven said. "Go ahead. I'll meet you at the car." They nodded. I felt Raven standing over me.

"You are acting like a dick, Richard Grayson," she said quietly after a few minutes of silence (For Richard Grayson was my real name). I whirled around, insulted. My face was tear-stained. During that moment of stillness, I had been silently weeping.

"How?" I asked angrily.

"You act like you're the only one who ever cared for Starfire!" she said loudly. "You act like you're the only one feeling sad! You act like no one can help you! But we can! You just have to let us in! BB spent the first week Starfire died-" at this, I shut my eyes and counted to ten to stop myself from breaking out sobbing again- "getting no sleep each night because he was crying so much because he was sad!"

"I haven't been able to sleep at all these past five years because I was so sad," I muttered.

"Robin," Raven said gently, walking over to me. "You have to let go. Starfire wouldn't want you to be sad."

"I miss her Raven," I whispered and began crying again. Raven smacked me across the face. "What the hell?" I complained. "What was that for?"

"You have to get a hold of yourself," she said plainly. "It'll be okay, I promise. Starfire's up there, sad because we miss her so much. Once we stop crying, she'll be happy."

"But Raven…" I trailed off. "I don't want to forget."

"Then don't…just don't cry…Starfire always felt like crying when she saw one of us crying," Raven said. I smiled. Raven was right. I reached over and hugged her. She seemed startled for a moment, then hugged me back.

"Thanks Raven," I said, sniffing as I broke the hug.

"I'm glad I made you feel better," she said, smiling. "But that hug thing-don't ever do that again."

"Gotta," I said, smiling at her irony.

"I should go," Raven said, turning around. "I'll see you around, boy wonder." I watched her walk away, jump into the car (with BB and Cyborg) and drive off. I turned back to the grave. I never thought of Starfire like that-a spirit. I had always been terrified of spirits. I wasn't scared of Starfire. I glanced around the graveyard. And just like my sadness, my fear melted. I dropped the flower I'd brought onto her grave and turned to go. Just then, I remembered the small box in my pocket. I walked back. I was crying-I was still sad-but my mouth was smiling. I opened it and took out a small diamond ring, the diamond in the center was shaped like a heart. It was my mother's engagement ring. I pushed the rose stem through it and placed it on her grave.

"If you were alive Starfire…" I whispered, tears forming in my eyes. "I'd want you to marry me. Keep it, okay?" My heart seemed full to the bursting. I grinned. I knelled down and kissed the flower. Standing up, I walked away from the grave, into my car and back to my house. If I had stayed a second longer, I might have seen her ghost appear, her translucent eyes (once a vibrant green) widen with shock. I might have seen her place the ring on her finger, and the flower to her heart. I might have seen her grab the necklace and the bottle of mustard too, and disappear into nothing.

When I went back the next day, I noticed everything from her grave had disappeared. At first I was concerned, but then sighed happily.

Her great star had risen…evermore.

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